The very essence of instinct is that it's followed independently of reason.

—Charles Darwin

reason instinct

About Charles Darwin

Portrait of Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin ( DAR-win; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species have descended from a common ancestor is now accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint...

More quotations from Charles Darwin

My mind has changed during the last twenty or thirty years. Now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry. I have also almost lost my taste for pictures or music. My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts.
If I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness.

—Charles Darwin

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.

—Charles Darwin

I love fools' experiments. I am always making them.

—Charles Darwin

To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.

—Charles Darwin

truth knowledge

It has often and confidently been asserted, that man's origin can never be known: but ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.

—Charles Darwin in The Descent of Man

ignorance knowledge science

More quotations tagged with “instinct”

To destroy is still the strongest instinct in nature.

—Max Beerbohm

nature instinct

It's funny what love can do to a person. It strips them of everything, even their instincts. It creates a new reality for you to adhere to, a new world where you break the rules just to keep the love intact.

—Karina Halle in On Every Street

love reality instinct

Ideas pull the trigger, but instinct loads the gun.

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts.

—Rita Mae Brown

Truly successful decision making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.

—Malcolm Gladwell

History

3 Jul 2019 Added